i used the wrong oil, i used 2 stroke 30 blend, and it was slipping bad..i took the clutch out yesterday and the clutch is perfectly fine....pads and springs are perfect....brand new barnett clutch, and i dried them off and flushed my engine out...i was wondering if anyone has had this happend and if i put regular oil back in, if it shoudl be ok, ......i heard someone say one time if your clutch slips, it will always slip.....is that true...give me any tips...thanks....

 

This is a common mistake people make. You look at the price of oil at your bike shop, and then say to yourself, "I'm not paying that". So you put some regular Pennzoil or Quaker State in that bad boy and go ride. The problem is, automobile oils have friction modifiers and other additives that tend to collect on your clutch plates and cause it to slip. Motorcycle oils are very specific in thier applications. That is why a 2-stroke uses different oil that a 4-stroke. The four popper also lubes the engine, 2 banger is just for the clutch and gearbox. If you are cash challanged at the moment, you can re-use your clutch plates by just scuffing them up a little with some sandpaper. Put a whole sheet on a flat surface and rub the friction plates on it. If you have the cash, go ahead and replace the discs that have the friction material on them. Hope this helps.

 

I made the same mistake on my older atv, the kaw bayou. I used automotive oil and noticed the clutch was slipping pretty good in 4th and 5th. I had hoped to drain it and put atv oil in and hope it was back to normal. From the above post, it sounds like that won't be enough. I don't know much about pulling plates and sanding. Sounds easy enough, i guess. Is this really necessary?

 

I think I did this to.I put hondaline 10w/40 in it and put a new filter.It is strange though.If I drop the clutch it doesn't do it.But when I a corner it seems like it should come out of them faster but it doesn't.It didn't do it before I changed the oil.I also put ina new filter.


86 trx250r
97 300ex

 

Not always necessary. I would say it would be worth a try to just fill it up with the proper oil and give it a try. At the most you are out the cost of the oil. I know that an auto clutch is probably a little more involved than the manual ones are. If your clutch is slipping, it should slip more in the lower gears because the engine is applying more torque to the clutch.
Usually this is a problem that shows more and more over a long period of time. My buddy used to think that he was just really hard on clutches. He asked me to help him once and make sure that he was doing everything correctly. He was, but then he went to put some regular old auto oil in. I bet him that I could make his clutches last longer by just using the proper oil. I was right.
Bottom line, if you just did it once or twice, you are probably OK. If your clutch is slipping, you have a problem.

 

exactly!

if your clutch is slipping you have a problem!

I've used every kind of motor oil there is on all different kinds of quads throughout the years and have never had a problem... of-course I kept the clutch adjusted properly too... which is very important on an auto-clutch machine

 

i know i have aproblem, but that wasnt my question....im just going to put some new oil in, the right kind....and ill see if it works....i cleaned everything out the engine, so maybe it will be fine....ill let yall know how it goes.....thanks for the replys.....

 

I could see how two-stroke oil would cause a clutch to slip since it is much thinner than four-stroke oil. As for four-stroke oil made especially for ATV's, I tried it but saw no noticeable difference over conventional automotive type oil. For that reason, I continue to use Valvoline in both my Kawsasaki Bayou and Honda TRX300.

 

A quote from ridzhard:"This is a common mistake people make. You look at the price of oil at your bike shop, and then say to yourself, "I'm not paying that". So you put some regular Pennzoil or Quaker State in that bad boy and go ride. The problem is, automobile oils have friction modifiers and other additives that tend to collect on your clutch plates and cause it to slip. Motorcycle oils are very specific in thier applications. That is why a 2-stroke uses different oil that a 4-stroke. The four popper also lubes the engine, 2 banger is just for the clutch and gearbox. If you are cash challanged at the moment, you can re-use your clutch plates by just scuffing them up a little with some sandpaper. Put a whole sheet on a flat surface and rub the friction plates on it. If you have the cash, go ahead and replace the discs that have the friction material on them. Hope this helps."

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Thats not entirely correct. If motor oil had friction modifiers in them we have no motor to speak of. Friction modifiers are commonly used in limited slip, aka "posi" differentials to increase the friction at the clutch packs to facilitate them locking when needed.

I wouldn't recommend using a non precision method such as scuffing the friction surfaces with plain old sandpaper, unless you want a warped clutch surface. If anything, take a can of brake clean and hose them off then let them dry. Thats still and extreme amount of work since all one did was use the wrong oil. I've used Synthetic by mistake in my atv's before and I simply drained and refilled with the proper oil. One of them has a fully manual transmission.


Change the oil with the recommended oil and you should be fine. Also, if the automotive oil has the proper service classifications, it too will work fine. The whole idea is to lubricate, lubricate, lubricate.

Hope this is helpful.


Open mouth, insert foot.


Samir Nagonnaworkhereanymore

 

I have used Mobil 1 synthetic in my Warrior since 1995 when I bought it new and have used the same oil in streetbikes with no problems. I personally feel that any good quality automotive oil is fine in your manual clutch ATV. I don't recall ever seeing anything solid to the contrary.
Also, there is nothing wrong with pennzoil or other conventional oil per se. They simply don''t have the higher flashpoint, multi-viscosity, long-lasting and other charactaristics as synthetic oils do. As it was mentioned, if you are using the proper service classification you should be fine.

Also, the clutch will slip easier in higher gears not lower gears as somebody mentioned. This is because it is harder to turn the drivetrain in higher gears.